Chapter 1 : Morning Shadows in Smallville

**Kansas, Smallville Small Town, 1981**

7:30 AM

In the midst of vast and gentle fields, lies a small town touched by the morning. Smallville, a name etched in the whispers of the wind, where the sun rises and paints the sky gently. Houses lined up warmly, welcoming passersby with smiling windows at every sunrise. On the outskirts of town, a golden field flourishes, blessed by the land that expresses love through each blade of grass. In the midst of that field stands a modest wooden house, standing resilient against the passage of time. An old swing, with a laughter-filled smile, accompanies the old tree that provides shade to the earth it cradles with warmth. Under the gentle shade of the old tree, a young girl stands, her gaze fixed on something in the distance.

"Kara... what are you looking at?" a voice says, and Kara turns to see someone calling her.

"Good morning, Jonathan," Kara replies with a smile.

Approaching with confident steps, Jonathan stands by her side.

"Good morning. So, what are you looking at?" Jonathan asks again.

"Nothing special, I'm just enjoying the morning sunlight."

"I see. Let's go inside, Martha is calling for breakfast."

"Alright."

They walk towards the house together.

**Inside the house**

The entire Kent family gathers at the dining table and takes their respective seats. Especially for baby Clark, he sits on Martha's lap as he cannot eat on his own yet. Quietly, the whole family eats. After finishing the meal, Martha starts a conversation.

"How's your day, Kara?"

"Good, Martha," she replies with a smile.

"Is that so," Martha replies with a smile too.

"Aren't you going to ask about my day, Martha?" Jonathan pretends to be annoyed.

"Why bother? What you've been doing for the past 40 years of your life is almost the same, taking care of the farm," Marta replies, feigning a mocking tone.

"Don't be like that, Marta, your husband might get sad," Kara adds playfully.

"Goo goo," says baby Clark, clapping his hands.

"Oh... is our baby helping his grandpa, how adorable...." Martha says, kissing his cheek.

Indeed, Kara's baby is now named Clark, and Kara's name is no longer Kara Zor-El; she is now Karen Kent. All of this happened a year ago, after Kara and Clark became members of the Kent family.

**One year ago, 1980**

(Now how do I explain this to the neighbors? And what about his citizenship?) In a dilemma, Jonathan is deep in thought. "Should I bribe? No, that's not the right thing to do; someday it will be found out. What to do?"

"Jonathan," Kara calls.

"Yes, Kara," he awakens from his reverie.

"You don't have to worry about my identity; I can handle it with the technology of my people. Moreover, the technology of this world is not as advanced as that of Krypton. But before that, I apologize, may I use one of your family members to cover my identity?"

Jonathan ponders for a moment, holding his chin with one hand.

"It's okay, Kara, that's the best choice," Jonathan replies after contemplation. Honestly, he had already started thinking of many scenarios. All focused on ensuring that no one has a reason to question the relationship between Karen and her baby with their family. Thus, the Kryptonian technology from Kara, which appeared out of nowhere, was the best choice. It didn't take long for Kara to hack the Earth's computer and place convincing data tracks. That's how they ended up with their current identities. Kara is now called Karen Kent, a 23-year-old daughter of Jonathan Kent's older brother, Daniel Kent, who passed away 5 years ago while traveling the world. According to the documents, Karen was born to a woman named Ria Jones (entirely fictitious), who died in a car accident while giving birth to Karen, and she chose to live with her only living relative, her uncle Jonathan, and his wife Martha. What about Clark's father? Clark's father is unknown, and it's a bit challenging to find a fictional father for Clark, especially since Kara is reluctant to replace Clark's original father with an Earthly fictional one.

**Current time, 1981**

"Mom...." baby Clark calls as he plays with Kara on the porch.

"Kara (Martha calls), do you want to come along? I'm going to the town to buy baby supplies."

"Alright, let's go, Clark," lifting baby Clark into her arms, baby Clark looks at Kara with his adorable blue eyes.

They then get into Jonathan's vintage car parked in front of the house. During the journey, they are amazed by the beauty of Smallville and the friendliness of the locals. While searching for baby items and household needs in the surrounding stores, Kara and Martha meet Mrs. Margaret - a wealthy woman who enjoys talking about others without hesitation even in front of the person being talked about.

"Hello hello, Miss Karen and Mrs. Martha."

"Hello, Mrs. Margaret. How are you?" Martha replies, holding back her displeasure as she knows Margaret has been gossiping about Kara for the past year, for reasons she still doesn't know.

"Oh, Mrs. Martha, I'm doing very well... hohoho."

Margaret doesn't like Karen, not only because Karen Kent is a young mother, but also because Karen is always kind. Margaret senses something off about Karen. That's because since childhood, she had a slightly special ability; she could always sense whether someone was good or bad. Although the accuracy was questionable, Margaret believed in her ability. With this ability, she managed to marry her wealthy and kind husband. However, towards Karen, she always felt something bad about her, something very bad. And it worsened since Karen always smiled and was kind to everyone around her. Margaret knew that Mrs. Martha didn't like her much because she always gossiped about Karen, but honestly, Margaret wanted to befriend Mrs. Martha because she was someone who always radiated pure kindness.

That's why Margaret wants to strain the relationship between Martha and Karen because she believes that by straining their relationship, it will keep Mrs. Martha away from something bad that might happen.

"Hoho, how are you, Miss Karen."

Martha raises an eyebrow suspiciously.

"I'm doing fine, Mrs. Margaret," Kara replies with a smile.

"So, what are you looking for?"

"We're looking for new baby clothes and supplies for Clark," Marta replies on behalf of Kara.

"Hmm... Ah, for Clark, whose father is unclear, right."

"MARGARET!" inadvertently, Marta raises her voice.

"But, it's true, Mrs. Martha? After all, the father is unknown," she says slightly mocking. Enthusiastically, Margaret glances at Karen trying to see her expression, but what Margaret sees is Karen just smiling.

"Mrs. Margaret, please refrain from going too far," Martha warns.

"Alright, alright, Mrs. Martha, I apologize. In that case, I'll be going."

Margaret steps back, feeling it's enough for today. As she walks away from them.

"MARGARET!" Marta shouts.

*DaR.....tEng.....*

*a boom*

A billboard falls just an inch from where Margaret stood, fortunately not hitting her. Marta and Kara rush to her.

"Margaret, are you okay?" Marta asks, worried.

"I'm fine," Margaret replies, her legs trembling, trying to reassure Martha.

With that incident, people are drawn to see what happened. The beginning of this incident marks the start of mysterious events in Smallville, but that's a story for later.

**On the road**

"Um, Kara, did... (hesitates) did you do that?" On the way home, Marta asks about the incident with Margaret.

"No," Kara states firmly while focusing on driving, (glancing) "it really wasn't me, Marta. Honestly, with my strength, I redirected the fall of the billboard to avoid hitting Margaret," Kara reassures Marta.

"I see. Thank goodness. I'm sorry, Kara. It's not that I don't trust you, but with your abilities. Especially after what Margaret said, I..."

"It's okay, honestly if I were in your position, I would doubt myself too," Kara says to reassure Marta again.

"Alright," says Marta, reassuring both Kara and herself.

Unlike when they started their journey, Marta feels a complicated feeling during their journey back home.